Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: WhistlingBadger on May 01, 2020, 11:20:42 am
-
OK, boys and girls. Here's a place to post your pictures, plans, questions, sob stories (maybe that's just me), and results of this year's garden efforts. Some of you are amazing gardeners and farmers, and I for one love hearing about your plans and accomplishments. Have at it!
-
I just planted potatoes in last year's straw bales that were backing up my target. Curious to see if it works.
-
Well so far my planting a victory garden has all been farming.
Bjrogg
Sugar Beets are cool weather They came up even with the nights dropping into the low 20s
-
My winter wheat was planted last September. It seems to have made it through the winter pretty good. Wheat likes our cool weather along the big lake to. We usually grow some pretty good wheat. Getting in dry and harvesting it can be a bit nerve wracking.
Bjrogg
-
Of course some of the garden was planted years ago.
Apple tree is starting to bud. Hopefully won’t blossom to early.
Bjrogg
-
Strawberries are waking up. Will be a few months yet before any berries.
Bjrogg
-
Raspberries are waking up to.
Bjrogg
-
I’m thinking this rhubarb has been growing in this spot for close to 100 years. There was a old chicken barn here before that my grandma had a bunch of laying hens in. We eventually tore down that building and built a different building there. We made sure that the rhubarb survived.
Bjrogg
-
Call mine the Wuhan Garden. Could be A war garden i reckon as we fighting the Virus. Can take some pics later.
HH~
-
Rhubarb is coming with the horseradish. Planting potato and some seeds in a week. Tomatoes and peppers are growing good inside be the end of may to go outside.
Thanks Leroy
-
Nice work, gents. Finally got my concrete soil all tilled last night. Got the pump fixed and running, and I'm putting in weed barriers today (Shawn, mine is a war garden, too, but the enemy is quack grass), then planting oats and cool season veggies. Got the first round of warm-season stuff into the pots this morning, too.
-
We are 2 weeks away from planting tomatoes, and warm stuff. Got a couple peppers that we potted last summer sitting on the deck, will get a couple more early season fruits. Garlic, chives, strawberries are up, likely some volunteer beans, oh, and dandelions! Got a bit of rain overnight and it has cooled off! I think every thing is going into planters this year so we can take it along when we move.
Hawkdancer
-
Got everything tilled, mapped out, weed barriers and paths in, and a good start on the fence/wind break. Oats, peas, greens, carrots, brocolli seeded in; about half the warm-season stuff started in pots inside (still waiting for the rest to come). Potatoes going in this week, too. I'll try to put up a few pictures tomorrow.
The gardening quote for this week comes from my ten-year old:
Mrs. Badger: I almost feel guilty planting these seeds in this clay, knowing they're probably going to die.
Badgerling: Yeah, it feels like killing babies.
-
Might till in some peat/sheep stuff in the planting rows, or use a mixture like Miracle Gro for each plant! Any way you can loosen up this high country clay is good! Do have some blossoms on a couple of the blueberries!
Hawkdancer
-
Yeah, Jerry, I normally would till a bunch of leaves/straw/compost/rotted manure into the ground in the fall, but I didn't this year. I was actually planning on taking a break from gardening this summer, but with the economy being what it is (and knowing that, when push comes to shove, music teachers are usually the first ones to get the old heave-ho), we decided at the last minute to give it a shot. So, it will be a bit rough on the veggies this year. I'll plant some winter rye and/or vetch in the fall and till it in with some manure and fall leaves. Next summer will be better.
Congratulations on the blueberries. :)
BJ, your place looks great!
-
So far I've got tomatoes on the bush along with pineapples, just three at the moment. Grapes are forming on the vine, lots of figs, one Ponderosa lemon, picked the other ones. Been picking peaches for a week and Ghost peppers, Tabascos and Pinas peppers, too. Cilandro started coming up wild so we'll have some of that for chili and tacos. And have a lot of green beans sprouting flowers. Cucumbers are about 2' high and popping blossoms.
It won't be long and it will be bean picking time.
-
So far I've got tomatoes on the bush along with pineapples, just three at the moment. Grapes are forming on the vine, lots of figs, one Ponderosa lemon, picked the other ones. Been picking peaches for a week and Ghost peppers, Tabascos and Pinas peppers, too. Cilandro started coming up wild so we'll have some of that for chili and tacos. And have a lot of green beans sprouting flowers. Cucumbers are about 2' high and popping blossoms.
It won't be long and it will be bean picking time.
Sounds like a good salsa year!
-
Cool weather stuff is doing well. My stuff is well on its way to get ate. Radish, butter head lettuce, arugula, cabbages, kolrabi.
HH~
-
Looks tasty, Shawn. So, is that arrow just for show or are you using it? Does anybody else use broken arrows for bean poles?
-
Just for perspective. I shot my 1st doe last season with this or one just like it. Think i only have two left of that half dozen. They are Larch shafts.
We got 30 degree nites headed for us! That is way late for 30 something here. Must be global cooling?
HH~
-
Better hose everything down. Sometimes that'll save the tomatoes from a light frost.
-
No tomatoes in yet. They in cups I take in and out.
Most years they are already in ground!
Not in the year of the Virus! Be late canning season for sure. Corn is up here about 5-6” in field. Beans are same. Wheat has tassled.
HH~
-
Oh well, I reckon I could come up with enough dandelion flowers to make wine if I tried hard enough - but I have work to do on the deck, thinning the hops, and packing up to move! Oh, just remembered I don't really like wine, except mead! (lol)
Hawkdancer
-
I had frost this morning, all the guys at work said if you washed the frost off your plants with a waterhose before the sun came up you could prevent damage. I did that this morning but the frost was light.
Tonight I am going to set up my sprinkler to cover the tomatoes and squash then get up around 4 (old guys get up a lot anyway) and turn my sprinkler on, that should take care of that part of the garden. I can cover the okra and beans with plastic because the plants are small.
Frost in May is way late for Bama.
-
Flowers bust open on plum and cherry trees. Don't need any snow till they are pollinated.
Thanks Leroy
-
Love seeing the pictures and can't wait to grow again. We can't start ours until I can figure out how to deer proof a plot on a budget. Had 6 of the hooved rats bedded down under the apricot tree this morning. Last year they even ate tomato plants down to the ground, I figured nightshades might be safe. So far the only things they won't eat are mint, thyme, and oregano.
-
Eric, I have seen fields of strawberrys coated with ice from irrigation in the morning just waiting on the sun to release them. Crazy how ice protects them but frost damages them. We have had heavy frost last 3 days and calling far a tracking snow1" or 2" for the weekend. Bob
-
Too windy to do anything here today. ..
-
With frost on the way last night and my garden too far along to cover the plants, I set up my sprinkler on a bar stool to get just a little more coverage. I was able to get at least splashed on water from one end of the planted stuff to the other.
I got up at 4 and turned on the sprinkler, looked out at 6 and there was a frost but not a real heavy one. Anyway, my garden was frost free, we have another round of even colder weather and more frost tonight, the sprinkler is in place.
-
It’s still to cold here for garden. Did do some prep work to improve one of my hunting spots though. This hollow had massive, beautiful, proud Ash trees growing here several years ago. They all died and I reluctantly took them out with my old escavtor. I made a lot of firewood and just got around to burning up the stumps.
Yesterday my son and I planted 50 sugar maples in the hollow. I tilled a small area bellow a stone pile for a small food plot. I made the stone pile into a elevated pit blind. Might be hard to see from pictures, but I think this is going to be a nice sit-up .
Bjrogg
First picture standing in pit looking down at food plot.
-
Next picture of the pit
-
Next picture food plot down hill and pit blind to the left on edge off hill.
-
Last picture the critters view from the plot.
Bjrogg
I’m hoping this turns into a victory garden of a different type
-
Nice BJ
Had heavy frost last nite. Had no warm weather plants out. Had to cover some of my wifes flowers and that was it. Lettuce was old enough not to burn. Wondering about young row crop corn? The fog over my River was like a boiling fog bank. Very wild looking.
Ice on my truck was 1/4' thick.
HH~
-
The young corn will take a freeze. It’s growing point is below ground. It will probably burn off the vegetation, but it should grow back. It’s about time for it to start warming up a bit. My field corn isn’t up yet. It still looks ok, but it doesn’t like this cold at all. Our ground is still in very nice condition. That should help keep it from rotting.
Bjrogg
-
I went to the dump and brought home a previously used office swivel chair. I put it in one of my gun blinds and put the outdoor folding chair in my pit blind.
Bjrogg
-
I also planted two pear trees. Deer love pear trees. I planted 7 pairs and two apples. Pretty good luck with them so far. They did find one and ate it. Not sure if it will come back or not. Guess I’ll find out.
Bjrogg
-
Pear tree they ate.
-
BJ, maybe a cot and a desk with a computer so you can keep us posted ;D ;D
-
BJ, maybe a cot and a desk with a computer so you can keep us posted ;D ;D
Maybe one off those big umbrellas for some shade to. I got my phone for keeping you all updated.
That is if I don’t run the battery down.lol
Bjrogg
-
Do the big umbrellas come in camo? I guess if wedding gowns do then an umbrella shouldn't be a reach ;D ;D
-
I like how your thinking DC. Maybe I’ll have to check with some wedding planners. I know they aren’t busy right now.
Bjrogg
-
Cool blind, BJ. Needs a work table with a bow vice, too, for days when the deer aren't moving.
Well, four of my apple trees are starting to leaf out, the new nanking cherry bushes are starting to bloom, all three of my hazel hut trees made it through and are acting like they want to blossom. The new maple, locust, and mountain ash trees are starting to break bud, too. It's always cause for celebration when a new tree makes it through a winter here at Badger Manor. This year, almost everything did. I think the long, cold winter actually helped them. A lot of times, we have a random warm streak in February that wakes up the less adapted trees, then it gets cold again and kills them off.
The cottonwoods, aspens, and bur oaks, on the other hand, are never fooled. The oaks still haven't even put out buds yet, and the cottonwoods usually don't leaf out until almost June. They've seen too much. :)
-
Spring is an elusive thing! Pretty sure we lost our plum tree - didn't help that the dogs konocked it over just before a hard freeze hit, likely lost a winter hardy low bush blueberry plant. Hopefully it does' get too cold tonight! Got blooms on strawberries and blueberries, peach and cherry tree are leafing out. Grass is ready for second mowing, even without watering, more fodder for the compost bin.
Hawkdancer
-
The heavy frost didn't materialize last night, just a light one. I turned on the sprinklers at 4 AM just in case, looks like am good to go, the weather is not supposed to turn cold again.
-
Got to 40 here here. I did not cover anything.
HH~
-
We're still having frosts every day, and probably will well into June. But I got the fence and the windbreak in yesterday, so we're making progress. Different worlds. :)
-
Happy Mothers Day.
Just picked a Bowl of Arugula and Bibb lettuce and made my wife a big early salad. Have a beer can cajun chicken in the grill and did a big flat pan of olive oil balsamic vinegar onions sweet peppers and zucchini.
Makin my hungry. Beautiful breezy sunny spring Mothers Day. Hug em , call em or remember them , love them.
HH~
-
Had a visitor to my victory food plot. The place of business one of my buddies works at is cleaning out areas in their shop to allow for more social distancing. In the past their employees have been allowed to store some stuff there. Not anymore. It had to go. My buddy said the employee who previously owned this 3-d target didn’t want it. He knew right where to put it.
Bjrogg
-
You going blind or spot and stalk hunt this plot? I dont see any good trees or cover.
HH~
-
I think he made a pit/ground blind out of rocks, right BJ?
-
Shawn it’s kind of a elevated pit blind. There are a few Basswood trees just to the side of the pit blind and the pit is dug into The side of the hill. Actually into a stone pile on the side of the hill. You are correct. Not many trees left here. Except for the ones I have planted. It was all ash here before the bore killed them all several years ago. The raspberries took over now and the deer still really like to travel through this area.
I don’t have tons of cover, but it’s just the start of spring here yet. Not even any leave on trees yet. I think the weeds and raspberries will grow up around and behind me. I think by being dug out two feet and natural growth that will occur. I’m hoping for enough cover. I am worried about not being in the shadows though. The afternoon noon sun will probably light me right up. I’m thinking long term I can develop this into a nice spot.
Bjrogg
PS more cover here than my first two selfbow kills. I would really like to be in the shadows though.
-
I dont have pics but im growing marigolds in my room. oh and my family's garden boxes are doing good!!!
-
OK, here's my garden patch. Doesn't look like much yet, but it has potential. It's about 45'x48'.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49908472373_2fffb09c05_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eY3Z)100_0386 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eY3Z) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Oat patch getting a drink.
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49908473263_21103d1c98_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eYjk)100_0388 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eYjk) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Tree swallows know they're cool...even if they're a little confused about what house they belong to.
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49908473968_0d02aa6e34_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eYwu)100_0389 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eYwu) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49908464123_a56f766f3c_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eVAK)100_0395 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eVAK) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Raspberries. This bed also has spearmint, chocolate mint, and tomatillos.
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49909292972_e9eb85d650_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3jaZf)100_0394 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3jaZf) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
All three of my baby hazelnuts made it through the winter! This one looks like it's going to blossom soon.
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49908475413_858d5ee6c6_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eYXp)100_0391 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3eYXp) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
This is going to be a tomato/herb garden right out the kitchen door.
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49909290622_0f92cbbb7d_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3jahJ)100_0390 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3jahJ) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Apple tree leafing out
http://(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49909292347_78127e6482_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j3jaNt)100_0392 (https://flic.kr/p/2j3jaNt) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
-
Don't have any pics yet, but peach and cherry trees are leafing out, real sure the blossoms got hit by a hard freeze 2 weeks ago, plum tree got knocked over by the dogs, and didn't survive replanting. It should make a very stylish walking stick after it is cured. Would it be best to debarkit and seal the ends? Looks like all the blueberries will make it, thought one didn't but saw leaves poking up yesterday, strawberries are making good blossoms, everything gets a drink today! Got garlic and chives, too.
Hawkdancer
-
Sounds cool, Jerry. I'm jealous about the peaches. We found some that were supposed to be good to zone 4 (we're between 3 and 4 here) but they die back to the ground every year, and I think they finally died all the way.
Got our corn and beans in today. It's (more) fun getting the whole family in on it. Many hands make light(er) work.
-
Haven't talked garden wig Little Fiddle Woman yet, but move is looking better and we may decide to start some plant in pots or buy larger starters! Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, lan to take the tarragon planter along, it is celebrity, I.e. 3rd generation planting from Georgia O'Keefe(?)in New Mexico! Didn't get out to water today, tomorrow for sure!
Hawkdancer
-
WB
Whats getting after your plants and trees that you have to goat fence everything?
You garden looks fine. You have enough room to feed several families. I bet out there you have to stay on your toes and have your seedling ready to go. You miss planting dates by a week and your not going to harvest. Bet if you can soften ground enough you could grow nice pototoes. That dirt over by Driggs, ID is super duper dirt for out west.
Think the best dirt I ever saw is that stuff running up the Iowa side of the Missouri River. Black as coal and they say in some places its 25-30ft deep.
HH~
-
I wouldn't hardly know what to do with dirt like that, Shawn. ha ha Ours is solid clay, right up to the surface. Pretty fertile, but not the easiest stuff to work with. We do grow some good potatoes, but they won't grow deep, so we have to cover them with a thick layer of straw to keep them from turning green.
You're right about the timing. The trouble is it's unpredictable. Sometimes we get frosts at the end of June and/or at the end of August. Other years we're good to go from early May to early October. So, you say your prayers and you take your chances! Our best bets for staples have always been Hooker's Blue Corn (unfortunate name but great stuff), mini hubbard squash, dry beans, and yukon gold potatoes. We usually get at least something from those. Tomatoes and peppers and melons grow great some years, and give us nothing others. All depends on the weather.
The fence is to keep the deer off the trees. Especially in late summer when the bucks are polishing up their antlers. We're in a one deer per year area, no additional doe/fawn tags available like there are across the highway. Dumb. I figure, if we ever move anywhere with real soil, a dependable growing season, and reasonable hunting limits, we're going to be swimming in food. 8)
-
I’m hoping that it dries out and I can start planting my garden this weekend. We got plenty of rain now.
Glad I didn’t plant garden yet. Nothing ever likes this much water at once.
Bjrogg
-
We planted a 100' row of okra, a few tomatoes and peppers and some zinnias for color this weekend. Now getting a good rain to water it in, about 1 3/4" since yesterday morning.
Haven't done a big garden for a few years after deer, crows, ground hogs(who would have thunk they eat tomato plants and okra plants) and late blight(looks like frost hit the veg over night in late summer) put a hurting on the garden over a 3 or 4 year period.
We already had spinach growing over the winter(under a cloche) and replanted it this weekend.
-
Here are my potatoes that I planted in last year's target bales. So far, so good. We will see what they look like in August or September. I also have Tomatoes, Garlic, Jalapenos, and basil planted. Around my yard there are also grapes, two apple trees (one of which produces primarily arrow shoots), oregano, rosemary, and some raspberries.
-
Taters look good, Jeff. Might have to try that next year. Keep us posted on how they produce.
-
I like that.
Mine are in dirt.
Have had a cool wet spring. Have a azz load of lettuce of different variety and Huge radishes. Arugula in first plantings is about ready to go to seed. Getting pepery but have more in staggered planting dates. Cabbages are heading up now.
Melons are up as well as summer squash.
Got to get rest of my tomatoes & peppers in!!
HH~
-
Got hops up over 6' (Mt. Hoods). Raspberry plant should bloom soon, likely the new buyer will have strawberry shortcake and/or blueberry pie!
Hawkdancer
-
Well, things were going great until last night when a frost wiped out about half of my corn, most of my buckwheat, and all of my potatoes. This despite my getting up at 3 am to spray them down, and again at 5:30. The taters and some of the corn will probably bounce back, but the buckwheat might just be a loss. Bummer. Hate to give up on good pancakes and GREAT chicken feed. I might replant it if I can find any more seed.
Oats are doing great, though, as are the tomatoes and melons (protected by those water wall things). We're going to be up to our necks in sugar peas, lettuce, and spinach in a couple weeks. If it's frost hardy, I can grow it. But when Mother Nature decides something ain't happening, she usually gets her way.
Mrs. Badger decided to get chickens. We built a nice coop and now we have about 20 red rangers for meat and grasshopper patrol, plus a dozen or so wyandottes (my favorite breed) and Rhode Island Reds to keep long-term for eggs. We're building the chicken run in a 4' wide perimeter around the garden, so any grasshoppers that want to get in have to run the gauntlet. >:D
We're also getting a lab puppy next week. Just another mellow, low-key summer around Badger Manor...
-
I heard snow came to higher elevations last nite. Sure is hardscrabble in the high country. Sorry bout yer luck! Potatoe top will freeze but will resprout. The tuber will still be growing under ground! Dont pull them out!
Hedge~
-
I think most everything that ain't froze out, done blew away! Wind over 75 mph, rain, hail, down low and snow level to 7500 feet in some areas! No freeze here, though, just busting our butts with packing and loading out!
Hawkdancer
-
Thanks, Shawn. Most of the corn is bouncing back, and I planted my buckwheat really thick, so even if I lose 2/3 of it I'll still get a crop. Jerry, it's been windier than a bean-eating politician around here, too. We finished fencing the chicken run yesterday. So most of the big projects are done and it's pretty much down to maintenance now.
Later this week I complete my 49th trip around the sun. Ribeyes, hiking, and hugs from my girls are in the forecast.
-
Having a cooler wave right now. Pool is 80 degrees and air was 58 this morning. Looked like dry ice this morning!
Took a bunch of tomatoes plants and goat fence wire rings to him and we put them in. Man, hes got fine dirt on his place. I told him we could put a 2 acre garden in here and make 50k easy selling organics to the Snowflakes and BoHo shiek Kali transplants in Nashville!
Raise a good crop of dental floss too!
They’d buy 10k in Arugula alone and its easy as growing dandelions!
HH
-
!0lbs of kraut on its way fermenting from the 2020 Wuhan Garden.
HH~
-
Looks good, Shawn. We had frost the past couple nights. Set the rainbirds to come on from 2-6:30 a.m. and saved everything. Supposed to warm up now, so I think we're good!
-
I saw the snow up higher this last week!
Kohlrabis coming in now as well.
Warm stuff will be late unless you kept them in hot house y til May 5th here.
Coolest spring in 100yrs here.
Some much for Greenie Earth Muffins crying about the hot death winds killing all crops this yeAr.
They dont organic garden by hand either i dont think.
HH~
HH~
-
Well, things are going well in the Badger garden now that we babied everything through the late frosts.
Here's the whole garden, chicken coop, and people coop in the background. The double fence is the chicken run, laid out so they can help control the grasshoppers.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50054625013_ddc8701641_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jga396)2020 Victory Garden (https://flic.kr/p/2jga396) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
My new assistant, Tayo
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055199221_eae208e264_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jgcYQe)Tayo (https://flic.kr/p/2jgcYQe) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Peas (broken arrows for poles), greens, pumpkins, and oats
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055394608_814e506b11_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYUY)IMG_20200628_153830 (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYUY) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Peas and oats
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055394483_1933d3e1e2_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYSP)IMG_20200628_153817 (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYSP) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
-
blue corn and black bean patch
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055394313_372f50705e_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYPT)IMG_20200628_153809 (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYPT) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Tomatoes and melons in the water walls. Beets and carrots struggled in our clay, they they've been replanted and they're coming up again.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055970876_87e548a954_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jggWdC)IMG_20200628_153805 (https://flic.kr/p/2jggWdC) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Buckwheat. Most of this will be for wintering the chickens; a bit will be for pancakes.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055394113_1a753d7d95_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYLr)IMG_20200628_153755 (https://flic.kr/p/2jgdYLr) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
Taters!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50055970691_89356bb002_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jggWar)IMG_20200628_153748 (https://flic.kr/p/2jggWar) by Thomas Wilson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
-
Look at this oat patch! It should be ready to harvest in a couple more weeks, and I should get several pounds of good hulless oats. I'm very excited about this, never having grown grain before (except corn).
(https://www.fishforums.net/attachments/img_20200713_094436-jpg.109787/)
There's an old story about Dr. Johnson, the famous English scholar (and scoffer at all things not-English), traveling through Scotland with Mr. Boswell, his Scottish assistant (and no slouch in the brains department, himself). Johnson, commenting on the prevalence of oats in the Scots' diet, said, "In Scotland they feed men what in England we only give to our horses."
Boswell, not missing a beat, replied, "Yes. England has better horses. Scotland has better men."
-
Aside from my usual Ky wonder pole beans I tried Anasazi beans, the pack of seeds said bush beans but I built a trellis for them having read conflicting reports about their climbing ability.
(https://i.imgur.com/XrKOFZS.jpg)
I could tell the pickings were slim off the 16 ft row, lots of vines, few beans but tried to get enough for lunch. I got so few I decided to walk down in my woods to get some chanterells to cook with the beans to fill the pot better.
(https://i.imgur.com/fVslbVg.jpg)
I cooked the beans with chanterells and onions, they had a sweet taste and were a bit different, I like Ky wonder pole beans better.
(https://i.imgur.com/o82klAy.jpg)
-
The Kentucky Wonder pole bean is my go to bean also. They produce a lot of beans.
-
Gardens were a bit slow to start here with a nasty cold spell at the beginning of June, lost all my Cabbage to frost. My Spaghetti Squash are finally starting to produce fruit. We started actively planting a native plant called Lambs Quarter that is tasty and full of nutrients, before I would just pick it out of the garden as a weed. Now I have to figure out a way to stop the Deer from eating it, they seem to like it as well.
-
We mostly grow shell beans. We've had good luck with golden jacob's cattle. This year we're trying Caribbean black beans. I doubt they'll amount to much in our climate, but you never know until you try...
-
My first garden is finished and harvested. I've started the summer garden now . Planted okra, sweet potatoes and sweet peppers so far. Been busy picking figs, grapes and Barbados cherries. When it starts to cool I'll start some collard greens.
-
Gardens were a bit slow to start here with a nasty cold spell at the beginning of June, lost all my Cabbage to frost. My Spaghetti Squash are finally starting to produce fruit. We started actively planting a native plant called Lambs Quarter that is tasty and full of nutrients, before I would just pick it out of the garden as a weed. Now I have to figure out a way to stop the Deer from eating it, they seem to like it as well.
If you run out of lambs quarter your welcome to come pick some from my fields Marc. I have plenty yet. I know you can eat it. I’m assuming the tender tops before they go to seed? As good as it grows around here it seems like it would be a very easy garden crop.
Like Marc weather was very cold this spring. Then very warm. My sweet corn is almost ready to tassel. My green beans are starting to grow nicely.
My Navy Beans are starting to blossom. This field looks really nice. The rest are starting to grow now but not as nice as these. It’s been hotter and drier than they like. Got a little shower and a couple cool nights that perked them up a bit. Hopefully it doesn’t get to hot again and cook off the blossoms.
Bjrogg
-
That's great, BJ. My corn is tasseling, too. I don't think it ever has this early before. We got off to a rough start, but this is shaping up as the best garden yet.
-
Ground Squirrels! My arch nemesis! wife had a pumpkin plant just starting to get some good growth and the d@@n squirrels got to it! Had to literally lock it in to keep them out! They like our squashes too! So far we have only gotten half squashes after they get done with them. Pack rats too! They really like green veggies. Carrots got about 2 in tall and then they were gone.... I have all kinds of traps. I put road flares in squirrel and gopher holes.... dont like poison.... just cant keep ahead of them.... The main population of squirrels live in a log pile between me and the neighbor - so when they present themselves to be nixed - I cant because there is a house behind them.... Lots of work to keep a garden here. Hard clay based soil lots of critters. everything is in raised beds.... Cant afford to sit out all day waiting for them with the .22 either... so, we get what we can out of it in the mean time...
-
Ground Squirrels! My arch nemesis! wife had a pumpkin plant just starting to get some good growth and the d@@n squirrels got to it! Had to literally lock it in to keep them out! They like our squashes too! So far we have only gotten half squashes after they get done with them. Pack rats too! They really like green veggies. Carrots got about 2 in tall and then they were gone.... I have all kinds of traps. I put road flares in squirrel and gopher holes.... dont like poison.... just cant keep ahead of them.... The main population of squirrels live in a log pile between me and the neighbor - so when they present themselves to be nixed - I cant because there is a house behind them.... Lots of work to keep a garden here. Hard clay based soil lots of critters. everything is in raised beds.... Cant afford to sit out all day waiting for them with the .22 either... so, we get what we can out of it in the mean time...
Need to ask @outbackbob48 to show you have to make figure-4's! :-T
-
You could try live trap, but wire doors open for a week or two and just feed them. They will get comfortable with it and then you can set it so it will go off. Then you can catch a bunch of them.
We are right in the middle of wheat harvest. A couple pictures.
First one is cart along side combine. It catches the wheat from combine and takes it to truck. The combine never stops. It unloads onto the cart on the go. Kinda like flying in formation really low to the ground.lol
Second picture is combine with windmill in background. Harvesting wheat and harvesting the wind at the same time.
Bjrogg
-
Pictures
-
If you look at the clipped wheat stubble. You might notice the green between the rows. That is clover we seeded into the growing wheat this spring. The wheat was planted last September
The clover is a cover crop. It fixes nitrogen, reduces soil erosion, puts organic matter into the soil and all the wildlife love it.
Bjrogg
-
Plenty of Lambs Quarter here plus I harvested the seeds from some mature plants last year. We like them better than Spinach now. It is best to harvest them as young plants but the seeds are also edible. If anyone needs calcium in their diet these are the plants to eat
-
I am overloaded, I planted a covid 19 sized garden just in case, this is almost a daily picking, I have canned about all I need and my Anasazi beans are just coming in. I try to give the stuff I don't use away but I am running gout of people who want it because everyone is giving stuff away and there is an abundance available.
-
I am overloaded, I planted a covid 19 sized garden just in case, this is almost a daily picking, I have canned about all I need and my Anasazi beans are just coming in. I try to give the stuff I don't use away but I am running gout of people who want it because everyone is giving stuff away and there is an abundance available.
Nice problem to have! Do you have a food bank nearby? We've been giving lots of greens and sugar peas away. We're probably another month away from having any tomatoes or peppers, but the pumpkins and watermelons have blossoms, and the oats are almost as tall as my daughter!
-
Plenty of Lambs Quarter here plus I harvested the seeds from some mature plants last year. We like them better than Spinach now. It is best to harvest them as young plants but the seeds are also edible. If anyone needs calcium in their diet these are the plants to eat
Marc yesterday there was a spot my brother dumped a loader bucket full of dirt and the lambs quarters were almost over my head. I ate some of the tops, leaves and young seed buds raw. Not to bad. Would have been better washed off, a bit dusty.
Do you eat the stems to?
Pretty soon the milk weed buds will be just right. I like those to.
Still haven’t got up the nerve to try stinging nettles. Have to many Unpleasant memories of it as a kid.
Bjrogg
-
Marc yesterday there was a spot my brother dumped a loader bucket full of dirt and the lambs quarters were almost over my head. I ate some of the tops, leaves and young seed buds raw. Not to bad. Would have been better washed off, a bit dusty.
Do you eat the stems to?
I eat the stems if they are tender. They are best steamed or in a soup
-
Snapped a picture of my sweet corn patch. We freeze a couple hundred pounds. Sell a little and give some away, depending on the yield and how much the coons and critters leave us.
Also my asparagus is finally really getting established good. I get most of my asparagus from the road ditch, but my wife planted this patch years ago.
Bjrogg
-
Wild raspberries are ripe. Lots of them but they are pretty small this year. These are really tasty and not to seedy.
Bjrogg
-
Thought I would show another picture of my food plot and pit blind now that things have greened up a little more. The deer have been keeping the tops trimmer off my soybeans. They don’t seem to mind my 3-D target buck. I have pictures of at least three different bucks, two does and five fawns on my trail camera.
First picture is sitting in my pit blind looking down at food plot. I’m thinking I might make a trellis for the wild grapes to grow on. Give me a little more cover and some shade. I could kinda train them to grow now I wanted them to.
Bjrogg
-
Second picture is from lane at top of hill looking down into pit blind and food plot. Maybe you can see my chair.
Bjrogg
-
Made 5qts of German Hungarian kraut. Was in crock for 6wks. Thats what 10lbs of raw cabbage yeilded.
Easy to make the proper kraut crock.
Dug 10lbs of russets up today.
Layed in my fall kale and broccoli this after noon. Will keep me in greens thru January. Will put a gew rows of ted potatoes here shortly. Some winter squash as well
H
-
A little hunter gather going on, I made 14 qts of bread and butter pickles today and got 4 qts of applesause for a start, need about 16 more on the sause, earlier got about 15 pints of strawberry freezer jam. Maters are couple a weeks out, broccli about ready. Only 6 pints of canned meat left 3 deer and 3 beaver but season opens Oct 3. Hey BJ have ya ever ate any day lily blossoms, not alot of flavor but lots of them and really clean and crisp. Just pick and eat no prep work. Later Bob
-
Really love good Proper Kraut HH. Making my mouth water.
Outback no I haven’t tried day lily buds. I know where there’s a bunch of them growing though.
I did try a kettle full of lambs quarters though. Gotta say if I didn’t know it I would have thought it was spinach. It won’t be the last time I eat them.
Bjrogg
PS that kettle was full I ate almost all of it myself.
-
My JCM tomatoes are in. Will be into juice, pasta sauce, picante, pizza sauce soon. My yellow cayans and Jalapenos are in as well.
A may 4th frost really did most warm season stuff for most folks here. Saw mid April frost and held my seedlings in shed. I got prolly 300lbs of tomatoes hanging green right now. Gotta eat tomatoes if ya wanna see 90 like in Italy!
Hedge~
-
Really love good Proper Kraut HH. Making my mouth water.
Outback no I haven’t tried day lily buds. I know where there’s a bunch of them growing though.
I did try a kettle full of lambs quarters though. Gotta say if I didn’t know it I would have thought it was spinach. It won’t be the last time I eat them.
Bjrogg
PS that kettle was full I ate almost all of it myself.
Glad to see you tried them out. They are prolific and easy to grow, one plant probably produces 100's of seeds. I "re-introduced" them to my grandmother 30 or so years ago. She told me that they used to eat them when she was young, her family had very little. They also used to eat Sheep's Sorrel in their salads but that one has quite a bit of oxalic acid and shouldn't be eaten in large quantities
-
I really like milkweed buds when they just turn green to. Rinse them in cold clean water a couple times, boil em, drain and add a little butter.
Bjrogg
-
got about 10lbs of Chantrelle's a couple weeks ago. just enough to last me thru the year. Use to hunt lots of shrooms as a kid with my father. All kinds. Think my favorite were Oysters but my wife loves Chntrelles.
Got to string these yellow cayans. My China Garden has really done well. Keep out in this hot sun gives me a good jolt of D3 three every day. Good for the body good for the gut.
HH
-
Our oats are almost ready to harvest; pumpkins are starting to form, and tomatoes are starting to blossom. Peppers and broccoli probably aren't going to amount to anything this year, but everything else looks pretty good. Steady as she goes...
-
my flower hasnt bloomed yet :'( ;D
oh our gardens doing ok, nothing amazing tho.
-
I have found that with certain types of garden crops, such as squash, it's best not to rely on insect fertilization for early crops. I do it myself and because of that I have some spaghetti squash almost ready to harvest and been harvesting zucchini for a couple weeks now
-
Just pulled all my summer squash, crooked necks and green. In the compost pile now. Winter squash went in its place after a blast of compost and fert. Butternuts and acorns. Love butternut and chicken soup my wife makes in fall and winter months. Cant hardly beat some mashed garden butternut with butter and a nice Elk chop on the rare side with a side of red potatoes and asparagus.
Hedge~
-
Having a long growing season is certainly an advantage when growing a garden. Here we don't have much more than 3 1/2~4 months before we start getting frosts
-
These southern guys are picking tomatoes before we even take them out of the greenhouse ;D ;D
-
These southern guys are picking tomatoes before we even take them out of the greenhouse ;D ;D
It's just not fair ::). Of course on the plus side, we don't have to deal with the stifling heat they have (A)
-
It's just not fair ::). Of course on the plus side, we don't have to deal with the stifling heat they have (A)
Agreed. I'll take the northern, high altitude climate. But I sure do wish I could grow tomatoes. Or peaches.
-
Got some green tomatoes on one vine, and blossoms on another, putting some Anasazi beans in, hope to get a crop before the first frost, but will be able to cover the planters, if needed! Might try to find a bush zucchini or late squash as well! Hunting season is getting closer, too!
Hawkdancer
-
My Anasazi beans have been a disappointment, huge thick vines and very few beans. What beans I have picked were tough and very stringy.
-
We have blossoms on our black beans! We planted them the old way, in with the corn so they'd grow up the stalks. The blossoms are bright purple. Don't know if they'll make beans, but it sure is pretty having those splashes of color in among the corn.
Aren't anasazi beans more of a dry bean than a green bean?
-
I picked all of my green beans three months ago. Just picked the rest of the ghost peppers, tomatoes,Nampa cabbage, cucumbers, peaches and Barbados cherries. The garden is sitting dormant covered in saw dust growing worms for now waiting to plant okra and collard greens and broccoli. I have two tubs of purple sweet potatoes planted and waiting to pick muscadine grapes and pineapples along with figs.
-
Never tried the milkweed buds. Guess I'll have to try them
-
We have blossoms on our black beans! We planted them the old way, in with the corn so they'd grow up the stalks. The blossoms are bright purple. Don't know if they'll make beans, but it sure is pretty having those splashes of color in among the corn.
Aren't anasazi beans more of a dry bean than a green bean?
WB, you are correct, they tend to be a high, dry climate bean from the Four Corners region. There are several good articles on line about them. They will survive a light frost, usually. They do like a bit of water now and then for best results and when planted with corn and squash. I think it is a bit too late for me to put in corn here, though. I plan to use tomato cages as trellises. Got to find a plant nursery in the area!
Hawkdancer
-
I picked all of my green beans three months ago. Just picked the rest of the ghost peppers, tomatoes,Nampa cabbage, cucumbers, peaches and Barbados cherries. The garden is sitting dormant covered in saw dust growing worms for now waiting to plant okra and collard greens and broccoli. I have two tubs of purple sweet potatoes planted and waiting to pick muscadine grapes and pineapples along with figs.
Wow, Eddie, we live in different worlds! ;D
-
Never tried the milkweed buds. Guess I'll have to try them
My daughter would never forgive me--she wants it all for the monarch caterpillars!
-
Bet the deer will eat those beans Eric!
Looks like cudzoo. Deer love the mew end growth of that stuff.
Did not put beans in this year. Usually do bush beans. I did do some White Armenian cucumbers. Interesting cuke! Almost all meat , little seeds, hard white flesh. Long to mature and mild flavor.
Shawn~
-
I have an electric fence to keep the munchers out.
The Anasazi beans can be eaten green like regular green beans or allowed to dry. There are not enough beans on that trellis in the picture to make a meal. I canned 41 pints of Ky wonder pole beans off the same sized trellis this year.
-
Thats alot of beans. Your pressure canning those and they are not pickled correct?
Shawn~
-
Pressure canned, laying in a stock for when the stuff hits the fan and they stop interstate commerce. I have always been an ant not a grasshopper.
-
Well just planted some more pole beans today along with two rows of carrots and a row of Dragon tail radishes. The sweet potatoes, grapes and pineapple are doing real good. I'm waiting for the stores to put some sets of collard greens, Clemsom Okra and broccali on the shelf then I'll be set for the fall and Winter.
-
9 Qts of Picante today. Just getting into tomatoe canning now. Be on this for 3 weeks prolly as they come in.
Winter squash is all up. Put a row of red potatoes a week or so ago.
Great year for the China Survival Garden.
I had to have an Obama garden for 8yrs to survive in that depression. Was good training for this Viral Season.
Good hunt buddy of mine in his early 60s got the Wuhan! Be talking with him every nite. He in rough shape. Went outside today for 50yd walk. Said it fell like he was switchbacking a pass at 13000ft with a rag stuffed down his throat. I will say a pray for him and his family tonite. Have not got a call as of yet!
Shawn
-
Glad your garden's doing well, Shawn. Sorry to hear about your friend. Hope he recovers OK.
-
Yes
Tomatoes are coming in purty good now. Did 5-6qts of picante with fresh cilantro and jalapeño today.
Think thats second picante canning.
Elk camp would not be the same without red or green picante on my Huevos Rancheros under the lantern in early mornings.
Shawn
-
I do a lot of canning and drying, over time I have amassed more and more "stuff" and didn't want to clutter my kitchen cabinets with all of it. I found a commercial shelving unit on the Facebook Market Place that is sturdy, heavy, not bad looking and will fill the bill to hold my collection out of the way in a spare bedroom until I need it.
-
My squash plants have dried up for the most part but I have one or two plants that produce a squash every few days. Yesterday I fried squash, green tomatoes and okra from the garden.
I tried an experiment with some poke salat that I froze that came out really well. I cooked the poke down with butter, onions, garlic, chicken stock and dried chanterells. It was pretty amazing, my new favorite way to cook poke weed.
I rounded out the meal with peaches and cream corn from the garden and a BBQ chicken leg quarter. The local Foodland market had them on sale for 39 cents a pound in 10# bags. This was too god a deal to pass up so I ended up with 30# in the freezer. I broke the bags down into 5# vacuum sealed bags which are just right to cover my Webber grill for a mass cooking.
I always skin my chicken to get rid of 60% of the calories before I package it for later. I threw the skin (lots of skin) out in the field next to my garden for a sky burial. Within 30 minutes there were buzzards on the pile cleaning it up, I don't know how they find stuff so quickly.
I leave deer gut piles in the same place, they are gone in an hour or so.
-
I'm going to be harvesting oats and buckwheat this week. I have baby pumpkins, tomatoes, and tomatillos forming. Hopefully they'll amount to something before the frost. I have the best corn patch I've ever had, and the carrots and beets are about ready to pull. We've been eating fresh butterhead and red sails lettuce until our skin's about to turn green.
Ain't life grand! Thanks for sharing your gardens, gents. It's been fun keeping up on what everybody's up to.
T
-
Looks gud fellas.
built a full outdoor natural gas kitchen outside. Needless to say i do lots canning, cooking, butchering, BBQing. When it gets hot i take 10 steps and into the deep end. Then, back on the fire.
Garden hunter gather life is gud.
Shawn
-
We got some tomatoes formed and beans up in the late garden, plan to put tomato cage trellises up for the Anasazi beans to climb, have one zucchini going I hope! Found the at the big blue box sore of all places! Soaked the beans before I planted, and hope we beat the frost! Will have plastic covers on hand just in case. The planting "zone" is all repurposed tubs from the local feed lot that their minerals come in. Hope to have tomatoes soon! Got to improve the watering system, too, or use lower pressure!
Hawkdancer
-
We had extremely fresh zucchini (with cheese) and sauteed bets for lunch today. Both dishes were eaten by two pre-teen girls with no complaints. Success!
-
Way to go, WB! The key is will they eat it again! We like the zucchini sautéed in butter, along with yellow squash and tomatoes! YUM!
Hawkdancer
-
The Badgerling helping me get the oat crop in!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50214587188_efb018cebc_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jvhTjC)Harvesting Oats! (https://flic.kr/p/2jvhTjC) by Whistling Badger (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
-
Oats look healthy. Elk like oats once snow flys. Hunted them in MT in oats during late hunt.
Shawn~
-
Something was eating my best cantaloupes, I put out a trail cam to catch the critter in the act, it was a coon. He is next to the cage I put over a couple of good ones to keep them safe.
Ordinarily I would trap him, I have picked most of the crop and will let it slide for this year.
(https://i.imgur.com/q8rDuLd.jpg)
-
Thats fix able. 22lr and a good light. Sugar content must be high in melons for coon to be on them!
Go out twice a night and you should clean them out foe a good while.
Shawn
-
Thats fix able. 22lr and a good light. Sugar content must be high in melons for coon to be on them!
Go out twice a night and you should clean them out foe a good while.
Shawn
Nah, work on the primitive skills and rig a figure 4 under a boulder. :-T
We got the buckwheat harvested today, clipped the chickens' primaries (sick of 'em flying over the fence) and butchered a couple of the big roosters. Extremely fresh fried chicken for supper! :OK The Badgerling is getting to be a pretty good hand in the garden.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50219698528_f5fd4ba808_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jvK5Kb)Harvesting Buckwheat (https://flic.kr/p/2jvK5Kb) by Whistling Badger (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187773441@N04/), on Flickr
-
Sign her up for 4H! Good that she is learning early! Not sure how thick to plant buckwheat, might try it next year. I may have to expand my garden to the "north Forty" out around the shop, but the deer and the rabbits may figure it out!
Hawkdancer
-
Sign her up for 4H! Good that she is learning early! Not sure how thick to plant buckwheat, might try it next year. I may have to expand my garden to the "north Forty" out around the shop, but the deer and the rabbits may figure it out!
Hawkdancer
Yeah, we had to fence it pretty well to keep the deer out. I'm sure they'd have really enjoyed all this grain. I planted the buckwheat really thick to choke out weeds, then about half of it froze out and died, and the remaining plants filled in and choked out the weeds anyway. So...the answer is, plant it about half as thick as I did, and don't let it freeze!
-
Almost had a disaster in my garden a couple weeks ago. I went out in the early morning and saw these tracks at the entrance to the driveway, those are my size 13 feet.
(https://i.imgur.com/NQqZMn9.jpg)
I followed the tracks and he ran all the way down to the end of the driveway and then hesitated. Turning right would have taken him through my garden. Fortunately he turned left and went down towards my shop.
-
I don't think a/the fence would have stopped it!
Hawkdancer
-
Had busy day harvesting yesterday.
Susie started early and put up a bunch of really nice applesauce. I was fired from this job years ago for scorching a batch. Now I’m just allowed to pick the apples and sometimes grind them. My wife and our kids love applesauce.
Bjrogg
-
Then it was time for sweet corn. I think I picked these bags full 12 times. My daughter husked them, two of our grandkids helped later in the day. I helped in between picking and cooking.
Bjrogg
-
We have a good efficient system. I cook the corn outside to keep the heat out of the house. After it’s cooked it goes in the kiddie pool to quickly cool down or “blanch”. My mom always did everything in the house and used the bathtub, but this works much better. Then the cooked, blanched corn goes into the house and Susie cuts it off the cob and bags it. Then in squeeze the air out and zip lock the bags closed and to the freezer they go.
Not bad for one day. I’m not sure how much applesauce Susie made but it was a bunch. The sweet corn we filled 52 zip lock bags. One a week for a year. I like to get two a week and still have lots of corn left. Only picked six rows. Still have 18 left. We will give lots away. Also 4 one gallon ice cream buckets full for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
This is a lot of work but it’s so worth it to me. It’s is like candy. Nothing at all like the stuff in cans you buy at the store.
Bjrogg
-
Homemade applesauce and sweet corn. Yummmm. We planted apple trees a couple years ago. Hoping to get some apples from them next summer.
-
Is there a special tool for cutting the corn off the cob or do you just use a knife?
Not from corn country ;D ;D
-
Managed a few cherry tomatoes yesterday, the other 2 tomato plants are starting to make fruit, got zucchini blossoms and buds, so maybe fresh zucchini in a couple of weeks! Birds got what few cherries there were. Got to figure out how get picture posting going again!
Hawkdancer
-
Had busy day harvesting yesterday.
Susie started early and put up a bunch of really nice applesauce. I was fired from this job years ago for scorching a batch. Now I’m just allowed to pick the apples and sometimes grind them. My wife and our kids love applesauce.
Bjrogg
Yup I know all about that one
-
Is there a special tool for cutting the corn off the cob or do you just use a knife?
Not from corn country ;D ;D
Yeah DC. My mom always used one. My dad still has two of them, but my wife like a knife. I use the corn cutter my mom used when I do it, but usually my wife cuts it all while I’m picking, husking and cooking.
Bjrogg
-
Had busy day harvesting yesterday.
Susie started early and put up a bunch of really nice applesauce. I was fired from this job years ago for scorching a batch. Now I’m just allowed to pick the apples and sometimes grind them. My wife and our kids love applesauce.
Bjrogg
Funny thing Marc. My wife doesn’t fire me from very many jobs. I’m usually way fussier than her. She gets really serious when it comes to applesauce or just plain cooking in general. She knows what she’s doing.
Bjrogg
Yup I know all about that one
-
No corn this year for me. I do it every other year. Still have 40 qts.
Kale and Broccoili are doing good. Winter squash and second set of potatoe rows are doing fine. Kale and greens will go into January. Still have several hunnerd pounds of tomatoes hanging. Peppers of all types are in. Still stringing up my yellow Cayans. They look cool on a string.
Shawn
-
You sure have a nice garden HH.
Bjrogg
-
Firing up the outdoor Hedge Kitchen in morning. got pasta sauce going on burner. Going to have to raid my wifes sweet basil patch. . . . Sorry Baby but winter stores must get done before bow season starts next week.
Shawn~
-
There are priorities in life! With that amount of tomatoes still on the vine, you should have plenty of pasta sauce, bbq sauce, and fried green tomatoes! Got to fertilize ours this week! Learning to do container gardening and playing catch up with the growing season is a challenge. Plan to try to get some blueberries going next spring, got gooseberries sort of established and chokecherries that the birds like very much!
Hawkdancer
-
Pedi did 3qts more picante and I did 3qts of BBQ sauce.
Raining and cool outside. Makes for great canning weather.
Made my BBQ very similar to my fathers stuff. But did a Tennessean twist like how us Volunteers showed Texas how to make tomato based BBQ. Got a really snappy Zip Twang.
Gettin my Wuhan stores put up for the fall festivities.
Gud Eats~
-
Well, I planted three rows of oyster mushrooms yesterday. Looks like I picked a good time with two Tropical Storms heading this way Monday and Tuesday.
-
Batten down the hatches, Eddie. Oh heck, you Florida crackers ain't askeerd of a little wind and rain. (R (W
-
Two big, ol' thunderstorms. (W
-
Stay safe Eddie.
Still got a little more than a month till hunting season here yet HH
I think those blue berrries like a acidic soil WB.
My Navy Beans are starting to turn. Along with a few trees. Navy Beans are the last crop I plant and first one I harvest. They are looking pretty good. Probably be ready to harvest in about three weeks I’m thinking.
Bjrogg
-
Was reading farm report from SD this morning. Kinda tough!
I thought wheat would be bring much more per Bsh!!
Be more small guys going out im afraid.
Shawn~
-
Was reading farm report from SD this morning. Kinda tough!
I thought wheat would be bring much more per Bsh!!
Be more small guys going out im afraid.
Shawn~
Traditional crops like wheat, soybeans and corn. Prices are pretty pathetic. Wheat is probably the best of the three for us, but the quality is so important that it really makes it risky crop. We grow soft white winter wheat here and there is a premium. However they are extremely picky on quality.
Navy Beans are ok price now if I can get a good yield. Market probably won’t last long if the traditional markets don’t pick up.
Sugar Beets look really good and sugar price is decent. A lot will depend on how we do processing and storing them. Early dig has started. I won’t dig them yet but our Michigan Sugar Coop has started processing beets. Our growers will keep digging just enough beets to keep the factories going. Once we start them they run 24-7. Until mid to late March. Hopefully the beets will store on the outside piles good until then. Last year was a real challenge. Freezing temperatures started early and 25% of crop was harvested in conditions very poor for storage. We did get most processed, but it really went poor and because we processed beets that would store poor first. We lost some of our highest quality beets that didn’t get processed until beginning of April. We were already planting this years crop before we finished processing last years. Never a good thing. Could have been worse. Minn Dak lost something close to 50% of their beet crop they couldn’t get harvested.
Bjrogg
PS I said Navy Beans are first crop I harvest, but wheat really is. I planted it last September though
-
My target bale potatoes. just shy of 10 lbs from three bales. I have one more plant in the dirt that is still growing well. looking forward to the roast and potatoes on Sunday.
-
Also got 7 jars of raspberry jam, and I have taught myself to make sourdough bread.
-
Also got 7 jars of raspberry jam, and I have taught myself to make sourdough bread.
I'll be right over. Save me some!
-
better hurry, I am already down to 5.
-
Blackberry jelly always has gotton me big bulls!
Think they can smell it in my 3 day Assault pak!
BJ
Did not know wheat was a beauty contest? Hows sugar content hold up in beets when they sit that long? I know Hermans grew the bejesus out of them and flax.
Shawn
-
Blackberry jelly always has gotton me big bulls!
Think they van smell it in my 3 day Assault pak!
Shawn
Hm, might have to try that some time!
-
I started dismantling all my trellises for beans and cucumbers and striping the unproductive areas of my garden in preparation for my winter greens patch.
I am still getting tomatoes, lots more than I can use, I have been delivering them on a regular basis to my shut in friends. This year I planted 4 new varieties to see if I could find a suitable replacement for the typical better boys I have always planted. I hit on two jewels this time and two losers.
The two winners made perfect tomatoes, no splits and very few rotten ones until the late season. The first is a Defiant as seen in the counter picture background, an incredibly prolific tomato producer with 2 1/2 to 3" tomatoes. The second as seen in the foreground is called Mountain Magic, as prolific as a cherry tomato with perfect tomatoes up to 2" in diameter with the cherry tomato sweetness. Being late season tomatoes the ones in the picture that I picked yesterday are down in size from their peak.
(https://i.imgur.com/Xrwoent.jpg)
Here is one of my Defiant plants, a little brown from the bottom but still putting on tomatoes and covered up with green ones. It is a determinant variety so it doesn't need pruning and only grows to the top the cage.
(https://i.imgur.com/Z8B4d0S.jpg)
As I was carrying the trellis fence panels to the edge of my place for winter storage I found much to my dismay that that a hive of yellow jackets had started a colony right where I stored the panels and I was standing next to their hole. The first one stung me repeatedly through my sock but the other two got untangled in the fabric and couldn't get a stinger through.
I gave them the cup of gas treatment followed by a bucked covering the hole to kill the nest. When I took this picture I noticed they had a second hole and my treatment didn't kill the nest. They will get another treatment after dark this evening.
(https://i.imgur.com/Yn1b4ry.jpg)
-
Yes sir! Those yellow jackets are nasty! Had a nest in my wall last summer. Can of Carb Cleaner shut them down good!
-
You gardener guys may be able to help me. Last week I harvested my first Cherry tomato. Just as I was chewing the last bite I got a little mouldy taste. Not enough to spit out. Three hours later I was hugging the porcelain pony. Then I felt fine ate a good supper and felt fine all the next day. The day after that I ate another, different variety, cherry tomato and felt a little nauseous and weak for a while but never vomited. I haven't eaten any of my tomatoes since although I have eaten store toms with no problem. Sound familiar to anyone?
-
I absolutely hate those things. Our nest in above-ground spaces, not in the ground. Have you ever seen those exterminators that pour melted aluminum down fire-ant holes to kill the colony, then dig it out and sell the sculptures? I wonder if that would work with yellowjackts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI&feature=emb_logo
-
I absolutely hate those things. Our nest in above-ground spaces, not in the ground. Have you ever seen those exterminators that pour melted aluminum down fire-ant holes to kill the colony, then dig it out and sell the sculptures? I wonder if that would work with yellowjackts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI&feature=emb_logo
That is a tricky way to do "sand casting"! I have used Spectrcide Pro on Yellowjackets with good results. Haven't noticed any around here yet, but do have a couple ant hills, will have to try the gas and bucket trick, could melt 5-10 lbs of lead and make a "sculpture", too! Hit the yellowjackets after dark, though, and watch for a second hole! As for the garden, we have a few cherry tomatoes ripening, and a baby zucchini forming up, got a couple small tomatoes from one bush and a bunch of blossoms. Rhubarb is coming back, maybe enough for Jacie to make a pie for herself.
Hawkdancer
Hawkdancer
-
Eric, I'm not familiar with that type(variety) of tomatoes but is that late blight affecting the leaves on them or is that their normal habit? We never had blight when we lives in coastal SC but up here in the mountains it can be a real problem during wet summers. Two years ago we had 140" of rain, last year 100" and already this year we've had over 60" so far. Our normal average for the last 20 or more years is 70".
Needless to say our attempt at gardening this year has been a bust as was last year and the year before that. 4 years ago when we had a great tomato crop the crows decided to take a bite from each ripe tomato, virtually ruining that year too. It's become cheaper and more practical to go to the farmers market and buy a few boxes of tomatoes($7 to $10 per box) for our stewed tomato base we put up and use the rest of the year.
-
Mountain majiks or fresh ate hybrids known for skins that very very tough. Rarely split. Called “Women buyer tomato”. They wont buy a split one!
I stopped planting them did not like the meat water ratio.
I planted betterboys and some old vintage varieties.
Still have prolly hunnerd lbs hanging! Feeding three or four families now. Will do juice next.
My kale is doing well as is my second potatoe crop
-
Pat, that is just late season blight, as we say "they are firing up". The Defiant is resistant to this blight so it moves slower than it did when I planted better boys. My loser varieties are completely burned up except at the very top.
-
My garden is definitely winding down. Buckwheat is in, and the blue corn is ripening. We had a few roasting ears Saturday night with some smoked ribs. I don't think we're going to get any tomatoes this year, but the pumpkins and potatoes are coming along well.
Not much to do out there now except water every couple days. More time for shooting. (SH)
-
When we get blight up here it looks like frost hit the plants overnight. One year we saw it hit and removed all the tomatoes, red, green and in between. A few days later they all had started rotting, even the green one.
-
When we get blight up here it looks like frost hit the plants overnight. One year we saw it hit and removed all the tomatoes, red, green and in between. A few days later they all had started rotting, even the green one.
Sounds awful. I get fire blight on my plums some years, but never on my tomatoes. I think they simply don't survive long enough around here for any diseases to take hold.
-
Very common in humid climates. I have none this year. Been wet but always had time to dry overnite before next rain.
Late blight generally will starts after crop is coming in on plants. So it does not affect yield to much. Early blight will travel on the wind in damp early summer/late spring and can kill every plant in the county. I have seen this in 2010 here in this area.
Shawn~
-
The only problem we usually have with tomatoes is blossom end rot but so far it's not much of a problem this year. We've had a good crop of pole beans, tomatoes are just starting to ripen, a few parsnips and rutabaga. I trellised the squash this year and it works well. There's lots of hanging spaghetti squash, already eaten one of those, and a few butternut. It was a slow start with the cold snap and frost we had early on
-
An Anasazi bean update, here is the total output from a 16' row of Anasazi beans, 3 pints. I picked a couple of small meals from the patch and a handful of dried beans. I had tons of foliage but few beans, the beans were small and very stringy.
The first picture is the beans at their peak, the plants have since gone down hill, dried up and been removed.
-
I don't think I'll be planting those, Eric.
I gave up on tomatoes this year. We have had so much rain they just didn't have a chance between blight, powdery mildew and splitting. The good thing is the mushrooms I planted last week like it. They are popping up this morning.
-
The late blight that affects our tomatoes is from a soil born fungi called Phytophthora which is the same fungus that caused the potato blight is Ireland. Some ways to help prevent it is by adding lime to the soil and mulching under the plants to keep soil from splashing on the leaves when it rains or you water. Removing the lower leaves from the plant as it grows helps too.
-
Yep I did all of those, lime and Epsom salts, planted through black plastic, put newspaper in the hole to only let the stem poke through and pruned the lower limbs.
-
We did not have great luck with tomatoes. Told my wife she planted too many in one spot. We had two nice maters and the damn deer snuck in and ate them as well as some beet greens. They use our back stairs as much as we do.
-
My neighbor has (had) a spectacular large garden, in spite of a deer fence the rascals have managed to probe its week spots and have been decimating his garden, especially his purple hull peas.
An electric fence has worked well for me so he is installing one today about 3 feet out from his deer fence.
-
My wife has been working at Squash, Tomatoes, Peaches, Blackberry’s, Apples and green beans.
On the farming side. We clipped our clover cover crop. We let it grow up about a month after harvesting the winter wheat it was seeded into this spring. Then we cut it to help with weed control and promote rapid vegetative growth of the clover. We also spread our lime and potash for next years crop.
We leave the clippings and the clover grows up through them. In a another month or two we will till everything into the soil.
I love cover crops. So does my dirt and wildlife that call my farm home. The cover crops cut down soil erosion, trap nutrients, provide organic material and really promote a well textured soil profile.
Plus the many environmental benefits it provides.
Bjrogg
Here are some pictures of the clover growing back again. It will probably Greg about a knee high before we till it back into the ground.
-
Don’t see my picture. I’ll try again.
-
Guess that isn’t working for me anymore. Very strange
-
I bought seeds for my winter greens patch yesterday, for the first time in my gardening history (50 years) there is no Georgia Collard seed. The seed dealer said there was a crop failure and they were saving what little seed they got to plant next years crop for seeds.
I can buy a number of other types of collard seed online and found a few dealers selling Georgia collards. Searching through my junk stuff cabinet I found a Ziploc bag with enough collard seed to cover my needs for this year. I have been planting more and more kale every year. The health nuts at the gym will turn their noses up ad a bag of collards but take all the kale I can supply.
I like my greens patch, kale on the left, collards on the right.
-
We got a bit of frost a couple nights ago, got the upper leaves of the pumpkins but nothing else. Corn is drying out, and oats and buckwheat are almost ready to thresh out. Need to plant some fall greens...
-
I plant the collards in the set trays. I was wondering why I can't find any.
-
Buy it at COOP by the oz.
Still have 200lbs of tomato’s hanging.
Putting up seed now. Getting ready for the 2021 meltdown! Made fresh Salsa today. I like with some sweet Balsamic in it. Made a big big Bowl full. Gift a bunch out to the families in the hood.
Shawn~
-
Yep, the local Co-Op had plenty of collard seed and hadn't heard about any shortage. I usually don't use the Co-Op for seed having gotten way too may packs from them that wouldn't germinate.
The garden came down yesterday, the greens go in today. I have to free up the slip clutch on my tiller today as well, it has been sitting outside for 14 years and the clutch plates are frozen up. I found this out the hard way last year with $2000 worth of repairs to the PTO gearbox when I picked up metal stake while tilling and the clutch didn't slip.
-
My garden is coming down too. Pulled and froze about a bushel of carrots yesterday; potatoes, pumpkins, and beets today. Snow is forecasted for Monday night and Tuesday. I didn't get any tomatoes, peppers, or cucumbers, but everything else did pretty well. My magnificent dent corn patch is still green, but the blackbirds are decimating it. So I think I'm going to have to harvest it green and let it ripen and dry in gunny sacks.
-
Four and twenty blackbirds, baked into a pie?! (=) >:D (lol). we are going to try to beat the freeze by covering the containers, but it is only supposed to be below 32F for a short time, a lot of wind though!
Red flag fire warning all weekend, then cold and snow Tuesday! High temperature yesterday was 101F. Oh well, everyone talks about the weather! Nobody can do anything about it! Stay safe!
Hawkdancer
-
I've started another one. Yellow Crooked neck squash, Brocoli, beans, okra, sweet potatoes and Dragon Tail radishes.
-
Four and twenty blackbirds, baked into a pie?!
Yeah, I always thought it was a little weird that the Europeans used to eat them. Now I know: It was to save their crops!
-
No frost here yet or expected for the next 2 weeks at least but things are winding down. Should give some of my butternut squash time to ripen anyway
-
Be 90 tomorrow and for next three days. Be watering again!
Have some tomato plants that have 20lbs hanging on them apiece. Guess I will be making juice now. Just crazy weather. This morning is 50 degrees.
Shawn~
-
Does anyone know where Canning Jar Lids can be found??
It would seem that there are None in North Alabama.
Thanks
David
-
There are plenty on eBay at price gouging prices, they must have turned into gold because of the shortage.
A friend posted that Target had some canning supplies in.
-
It was interesting project adjusting t the slip clutch on my tiller, I had watched the you tube videos on breaking a clutch free.
I backed the clutch springs all the way off, raised my tiller off the ground and put it in gear, nothing. I had a paint line across the clutch plates to see if they would move, nothing moved.
I went to plan B cautiously; I put the tiler slightly on the ground and bumped it into gear, This time I heard a sickening brief screech and though "what have I done". I got off the tractor and checked my marks, they had moved. I popped the tiller into gear again and the screech got louder and then got quiet, success, everything in the clutch was rotating freely.
I tilled a really rough spot for my neighbors greens patch, in the past I almost always pick up a huge rock and locked my tiller up on this plot. This time I didn't pick up anything and couldn't check my adjustment handiwork to see if I had things just right.
-
Glad you got your clutch fixed, Eric. I always have to hire a pro for stuff like that.
Weather is crazy. Sunday, 95F. Yesterday, harvesting everything left that's harvestable, cloudy and highs in the 70s. This morning, 6" of snow on the ground, cottonwood branches everywhere except on the trees, and no electricity. (I'm typing this at work--power is on in town) Welcome to life at high altitude! I think the active part of gardening is over for me. Now I'm just waiting for grain, peas, and beans to dry out (grain in burlap sacks on the deck; peas and beans on the vines) so I can thresh and winnow.
-
Glad you got your clutch fixed, Eric. I always have to hire a pro for stuff like that.
Weather is crazy. Sunday, 95F. Yesterday, harvesting everything left that's harvestable, cloudy and highs in the 70s. This morning, 6" of snow on the ground, cottonwood branches everywhere except on the trees, and no electricity. (I'm typing this at work--power is on in town) Welcome to life at high altitude! I think the active part of gardening is over for me. Now I'm just waiting for grain, peas, and beans to dry out (grain in burlap sacks on the deck; peas and beans on the vines) so I can thresh and winnow.
That is wild. Still no prediction of frost here. Cool today but far from freezing.
I've been battling some Beavers that have decided to make a small creek that drains the swamp behind my house their home over the last few days. They are persistent. They have 4 dams along that creek and every day I go and break them up. I know that won't discourage them but I don't want to trap them till later when the fur is prime
-
Re: canning supplies - Ace Hardware and WallyWorld usually have them on hand. Seems to be a lot more people canning this year. Hope they do it right! -C-
Hawkdancer
-
Buy lids by the case in Spring. All i have left is a pack of two of regular size and a bunch of wide months.
Shawn~
-
Winter planting is DONE!
I planted my greens, Siberian kale, red Russian kale, collards and purple top turnips. I am going to try spinach planted through newspaper with grass mulching when the weather cools a bit, my normal black plastic it too hot for these plants.
I planted my deer plot down in the woods, the electric fence is sparking to keep the deer from plucking up the tender plants before they get a start.
I planted a huge greens patch on my neighbors land as an experiment, it is about 35' wide and 120' long. In the past when I planted a greens patch on a hunting club the deer wouldn't touch them. I planted this one to see if our urban deer are as picky, I bet they mow it to the ground. It has the same things planted in it as my greens patch with the addition of Dalkon radishes and seven top turnips
-
Diakon White radish?
Shawn~
-
Yep
-
My mum is blooming!! took the whole summer!!! it seems someone shut my window on a leaf and when i went to move to pot it made the roots less stable. tied the flower to a metal rod and now im just gonna keep growing it, deadheading it, putting new soil, and so forth for as long as i can. mums are really pretty!!
-
Came close to freezing last night. Might get that frost next week though
I like planting flowers too but I prefer flowers that smell nice as well, maybe being surrounded by a swamp has something to do with that :-). Planted some Black Locust a few years ago and it started flowering a couple years ago. The flowers have a heavenly smell. I let a friend smell the flowers and now he wants to plant some at his place.
-
Will hit 89-90 today. Have to water again. Pool is still 82 degrees. Got to test it. May be drinking when the bottom falls out in November ;)
HH~
-
89!! were in the 40-50s!! gotta pick the rest of the carolina cayennes ... tomatoes arent turning red anymore... well, at least the lettuce should be happy.
-
I think my tomatoes survived the cold snap, didn't get much below freezing for very long, and we got an inch of rain instead of snow over 2 days. Beans seem to be making more blossoms, and we got a couple little zucchinis. Warming up some, may be back to 90 by Tuesday, the grass seems to be greening back up from the drought, water bill is high, though! Every one stay safe!
Hawkdancer
-
Planted some Black Locust a few years ago and it started flowering a couple years ago. The flowers have a heavenly smell. I let a friend smell the flowers and now he wants to plant some at his place.
yes and they taste delicious fried in batter
-
Badgerling and I got some wild plum jam made yesterday. Yummmmm
(https://www.fishforums.net/attachments/img_20200914_062625-jpg.116237/)
-
Be gud on those elk peanut butter double protein samiches for pack lunch on the mountain.
HH~
-
Be gud on those elk peanut butter double protein samiches for pack lunch on the mountain.
HH~
Ha ha ha That sounds awful, Shawn! Anything tastes good in the mountains. There's hungry and there's elk hunting hungry.
-
Not sure how many Cayenne's are here but I have about 50 hanging on this one plant. Use the motor and pestle when they all dry and make a bottle of seasoning for Brats, Gumbo, red beans and rice or any of my fav O rite cajun dishes. Petra makes em I justs eats em.
Shawn
-
man those look awesome! i tried to dry mine but it got humid and some started to rot. i used all the good ones to make hot sauce.
-
Not much moisture in Cayennes. Just put em in a good dry spot. Nothing going to eat these things so in the skinning shed they go.
Yellow ones I never had before. I know they are hot. When sewing them up 1st time i forgot to wash my fingers and of course, I rubbed my eye and my face.
Shawn~
-
My latest garden experiment; I have planted spinach through black plastic in the past with mixed results. If I had cool weather it did well but with our usual fall drought it did very poorly, the plastic keeps the weeds at bay but makes the ground much too hot for spinach.. To get a marginal crop I would have to replant a half a dozen times, even then it was iffy. I have so many weed seeds in my soil from using barn yard fertilizer that I have to use a ground cover for individual plants.
This year I am trying newspaper held down by T posts to hopefully reflect the sunlight and keep the ground cooler.
-
I save seed in the spring and have a big bag of spinach seed from 2011 in the freezer that I have planted every year with pretty good germination.
I decided to stratify the seed this year by soaking them in a bowl of water instead of planting it straight out of the bag. According to what I have read the floaters aren't viable seed and the sinkers are. I found that over half my stored seed were floaters.
I planted my newspaper rows with sinkers but laid off another row of floaters just to see if they would come up, the seeds are in the bowl in the picture.
-
My biggest issue with planting my greens patch is sowing the seed too thick. I have been experimenting with salt shaker type spreaders that make out of pint jars. The size and number of holes can make a spreader that really puts out seed evenly.
Here is one that works well, the other picture is my hand thrown seed, much too thick, with greens seed being so small it is hard to tell how many you put out.
-
My stratified seed experiment is complete, it worked well, here is a row of stratified seed and the sinkers I planted. In the row of floaters I planted only one seed has come up so far. Some of these will be transplanted to any holes in my newspaper that failed to have seeds sprout, so far almost every hole has a plant or multiple plants in it.
-
Interesting experiment Eric. Like the shaker idea to.
I tried something I always wanted to but it never seemed to work out right until today. I know these giant puff balls always grow in this same spot. I usually don’t get the timing right and they are past prime. Tonight I found several. I picked a half dozen. I Cleaned up and sliced up the smallest one. Heated up some butter and sautéed the slices. Cooked them till they got a golden brown edge. I hope they are ok, because my wife daughter and I ate a bunch of them.
Not to bad. Anyone have suggestions for storing them? Dehydration?
Bjrogg
-
Looks good, BJ. I guess if you're all still alive in the morning and your dreams were no more wacko than usual, they're probably OK! ;D
-
Puff balls are edible
-
Looks good, BJ. I guess if you're all still alive in the morning and your dreams were no more wacko than usual, they're probably OK! ;D
I’ll try to remember to check in in the morning so no one gets to worried. As for the dreams. My wife has some pretty interesting one without any side effects.
So far everyone seems to be doing good
Bjrogg
-
Puff balls are edible
Any suggestions for storing Marc?
Bjrogg
-
Just so you all know. Everyone survived the night with zero side effects. I washed and put two bigger ones in the fridge. If I get a chance I might try slicing some thin wafers and filling up my Dehydrator .
Bjrogg
-
I dehydrate a lot of chanterelles, I don't see why it won't work on puff balls.
-
Can dry them easy BJ. Dont think you gotta eat em all now.
Eric, growing greens really that big a deal down there? I like your idea.
Um picking red kale and collards now. Broccoli did not do well? Good thing is it eats like kale greens!
Shawn
-
Puff balls are edible
Any suggestions for storing Marc?
Bjrogg
Fraid not. Mushrooms are not high on my list of edibles but I don't mind nibbling when I see one in the wild.
-
I get puffballs in my pasture once in a while during very wet summers. Some of them get bigger than a softball. Never had the nerve to try one.
If you find yourself listening to The Doors, and the lyrics make sense...don't eat that one again.
-
always remember that some mushrooms have very nasty venoms
not only some that kill you in a few hours
also venoms that accumulate in your body and produce effects when you have ingested enough even after long time
when you detect the sympthomes your body already suffered great damages
you cant proceed with trial and errors with mushrooms. stick with what you know 100%
-
Puff Balls, more accurately giant ones are fine. Been eating them fo 45yrs. Mild and they dry fine. Get a big glass jar with a good seal lid. Let em cool, drop in, done
I Freeze Chantrelles. Just quicker to use since im not keeping them more than 8 months or so.
Shawn~
-
A lot of my friends who don't grow gardens love greens so I plant a communal greens patch that they can pick from. I also have some elderly friends that can't pick so I deliver greens to them.
I have two surviving in-laws from my late wife's family that love greens as well, these family members are all country folk and raised on them. I till them a greens patch every year but they are not great gardeners so I end up taking them greens. No matter how much I stress proper planting time plus lime and fertilizer to them they don't follow my lead and grow stunted stuff.
The hard body gals at the gym all like kale but they make health oriented smoothies or other disgusting stuff out of it.
-
The only thing wrong with kale is that it tastes like kale.
-
The only thing wrong with kale is that it tastes like kale.
Add lots of butter, some salt, ham hocks, and cover with Parmesan cheese, about 1 oz of kale! -C- -C (lol)!
Hawkdancer
-
The only thing wrong with kale is that it tastes like kale.
Add lots of butter, some salt, ham hocks, and cover with Parmesan cheese, about 1 oz of kale! -C- -C (lol)!
Hawkdancer
Sounds like a great recipe...except I'd do it without the kale.
-
you know, sometimes i like to put my kale on the side.... and then inevitabally leave it there.....
-
I think I will stick with spinach, on the other hand, I am supposed to go easy on high iron foods >:D!
There goes the venison liver with wild rice and mushrooms in wine sauce! Curses, foiled again >:D -C- (lol)!
Hawkdancer
-
I believe that kale is an ornamental plant, not an edible. Or rather, it's a bit like grasshoppers and carp: Edible, but I've never been that hungry.
Well, my garden got all put to sleep last weekend. Junk cleared out, chicken coop cleaned out and resulting nastiness tilled into the ground. We're showing our house this weekend and I think it's going to sell, so this might turn out to have been our last struggle with the Badger Manor chunck o' clay that is our garden patch. We shall see!
-
I'll stick with Collards and Turnip greens.
-
I lover kale, either steamed with hot pepper vinegar or chopped in a slaw with cabbage, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, walnuts, dried cranberries and poppy seed dressing. :OK
-
For many eating greens is like grazing grass in the yard, disgusting, for us southern folk with the acquired taste for them they add a richness to a meal when properly prepared. I cook my kale, collards and turnip greens with a little olive oil and garlic, I often cooked them for family gatherings of up to 45 people and there would not be a scrap left after the meal.
Of course there is poke salat which out definitely turn off any non green eaters.
My my latest way to cook poke; sautéed in butter with garlic and onion, stir fried with smoked pork sausage and wild chanterelle mushrooms with a little chicken stock added and boiled down until it isn't soupy.
Here is kale cooked the same way, without the chanterelles;
-
mmmmm... eric. that pictures making me rethink leaving my kale on the side! that looks good! guess ive only ever tried kale plain...
-
Season coming to a end. Frost is coming. Put up my last 11 jars of Roma tomatoes. Not the greatest garden this year. Started good, Hail in June, Scorching heat in July and August. Herbs did good, going to dry a bunch. Waiting for frost. Split the rhubarb, dig potatoes, and make horse radish. Guess that's why they call it next year country. Already planning
Thanks Leroy
-
Crap". I thought we were doing good to get a dozen headmasters and 2 dozen cherry tomatoes, late planting of course, and here comes a frost, maybe!
Hawkdancer
-
Picked another load of Better Boys, JCMs and a load of kale greens for tomorrows dinner.
Think im going to do some green salsa verde but tomatoes not tomatillles. Will see not much time have hunting to do and get ready for elk bear deer hunt out west.
Shawn~
-
My neighbor has a vacation house on Dolphin Island that got hit by the latest storm, I am watching his place while he is gone gown there for repairs.
He had a time keeping the deer out of his garden this year, his usual deer fence fell flat, his huge pea patch drew deer in and the 5' fence no longer kept them out. He followed my lead and put up an electric fence, after the deer went through the training stage they have grown to respect the fence and stay out of his garden. I patrol it every few days on my 4 wheeler to make sure the deer haven't breeched it.
I have been picking his okra to keep it from going to waste, he has 2 60' rows, I picked a couple of gallons yesterday. I have to find someone who wants it, I have more than enough in my freezer now to last until next season.
-
Cut Okra and tomatos cajun style!
Nothin better.
HH~
-
My neighbor has a vacation house on Dolphin Island that got hit by the latest storm, I am watching his place while he is gone gown there for repairs.
He had a time keeping the deer out of his garden this year, his usual deer fence fell flat, his huge pea patch drew deer in and the 5' fence no longer kept them out. He followed my lead and put up an electric fence, after the deer went through the training stage they have grown to respect the fence and stay out of his garden. I patrol it every few days on my 4 wheeler to make sure the deer haven't breeched it.
I have been picking his okra to keep it from going to waste, he has 2 60' rows, I picked a couple of gallons yesterday. I have to find someone who wants it, I have more than enough in my freezer now to last until next season.
My father in law has had similar experiences with deer. He build 8 foot fences with barbed wire on tip. It seems to be holding. I think the moats, mine fields, and machine gun nests are going in next spring.
Well, boys, Badger Manor is officially under contract. We have a nice little place in town all lined up. On the one hand, no more 30 yard archery range in the yard, no more trail runs out my front door, and no more grain fields in the garden. On the other hand, a garage where I can set up a bow building shop, a music room, a hot tub, Badgerling's best friend a block away, and no more huge list of spring, summer, and fall chores, which means more time in the mountains. Best of all, we should be completely debt-free by next summer, which means...well, lots of things. All of them good. Very good. Wish me luck on a new chapter of life!
-
I was in a neighborhood one time where all the houses had a privacy fence. This spike ambled down the street, walked up to a standard height privacy fence about 6' tall, stood flat footed next to the fence and sprang over it effortlessly without breaking a sweat or getting a running start.
-
WB, congratulations! The by word now is "It's in a box in the garage"! Getting the debt load down is a good feeling! We have a guest room(with waterbed), the music room, the art room, the gun closet, fireplace in the living room, and everything else is in the shop. When it gets a bit better organized, the archery range will be about 18 yards! Come spring, I will look for a huge surplus straw bale to set up an outdoor range. The shop will have bow building, woodworking/carving, as well as a reloading table and a portable casting area near the overhead doors! Also we inherited a pool table and fooss ball table, so entertainment is no problem! Remember, no pics, it didn't happen! I got to get imgur reopened on my iPad and phone so I can post some from here! Good luck with your move!
Hawkdancer
-
Today was cider day found a tree at hospital and picked a bushel or so. Made a quick gallon. Woylda been nice to find a few sour apples to mix in with theses sweet ones.
Tasty and fresh.
Shawn
-
Planted these sugar beets back on April 4th. While self isolating in my tractor.
We have been busy harvesting them the past couple weeks. The fall colors are really good this Year. They have lasted a long time. I think maybe the early hard white frost had maybe had something to do with it. It also pushed the sugar beets to really sweeten up. We are harvesting a very high quality crop of beets. Very good sugar content. I hope we can get good storage weather to keep them over the winter and early spring. Our temperature has been ideal for piling our beets. We want cool, but not freezing temperatures for harvesting and piling our beets. We started our factories back in the middle of August. We will run them 24-7 until all our beets are processed. Probably the end of March or beginning of April 2021. By then we will be planting them again.
Bjrogg
-
The beets on the left still have their leaves. The ones in the middle have been “topped”. You can see the top of the roots sticking just above the ground. To the right they have been “lifted “and you can see the dug rows where the beets were.
This field is running about 37 tons per acre. That’s almost a semi load every four rows across the field. That requires a lot of trucking. I really appreciate the drivers who have worked for us for many years. We couldn’t do it without them.
Bjrogg
-
Boy, no rest for the weary. How are you processing the beets? Is it for sugar production?
-
Yeah, Pat, they're for sugar. They grew those like crazy up in the Bighorn Basin where I grew up. Had to get them processed right quick, though, before it got cold. No piling until spring up there.
Must feel good to get the harvest in, BJ. Congratulations.
-
it snowed (S) (S) (S) (S)
then thawed (-S (-S (-S (-S
all during sleep and at school... i lost the peppers i didnt pick and everythings dead now.... but we got all the tomatoes!!! ;D ;D ;D
Congrats BJ! sounds like a good harvest!!!
-
Great to hear you got a good crop, BJ! Time to go hunting! I have just the tarragon to cut, assuming the wind and snow didn't knock all the leaves off! Then I mulch the container and broil some chicken!
Hawkdancer
-
Boy, no rest for the weary. How are you processing the beets? Is it for sugar production?
Yes Pat. Our factories are well over 100 years old. We would like to build a new one, but in this day and age it is not possible because of cost. Always seems strange to me that the old timers could build this stuff over a hundred years ago with very limited technology and equipment, but we can’t now with all our advanced technology. Sometimes Can’t isn’t really the right word.
Bjrogg
-
Yeah, Pat, they're for sugar. They grew those like crazy up in the Bighorn Basin where I grew up. Had to get them processed right quick, though, before it got cold. No piling until spring up there.
Must feel good to get the harvest in, BJ. Congratulations.
WB my dad planted our first crop of sugar beets the day before I was born. Almost 60 years ago.
This is our 59th crop of beets. A lot of things have changed since then. A lot of things have stayed the same. It’s still a lot of work. Harvest is always a race between weather that is to warm to pile and to cold to harvest.
Cold weather for storing isn’t so bad. If it stays cold. Freezing and thawing is the worst. Min-Dak store some in huge buildings. They get cold enough that they pump in cold air and completely freeze their piles. Once they are frozen they have to keep them that way. If they thaw they turn to mush.
We get a lot of freezing and thawing here. The outside or”Rims” of our piles are a real challenge. We are always experimenting with different ideas for storage. Most are very expensive. Few work as good as advertised.
We “fly” the piles weekly with inferred cameras and record hot spots. We try to remove them first. We use to have a plane do this but now we use a drone.
Bjrogg
-
Sorry to hear about your peppers Deerhunter. Our garden is done and ready for tillage.
Bjrogg
-
Great to hear you got a good crop, BJ! Time to go hunting! I have just the tarragon to cut, assuming the wind and snow didn't knock all the leaves off! Then I mulch the container and broil some chicken!
Hawkdancer
Sorry to let you down. No time for hunting yet. We still have at least four days of beets. Probably six.
Then it’s time to go back at corn and tillage. I’m pretty sure it will be gun season before I can get back out. Of course I do have my bow along in the very unlikely chance I might get a stalk. Very unlikely but I do like the way it spruces up my tractor cab.
Bjrogg
-
This is my beet digger with cart along side. The digger lifts the beets and dirt out of the ground with “digger wheels “. Then they go over a series of cleaning chains and rolls to remove dirt and some stones. Then they go in the “Ferris Wheel” to get them elevated to a conveyor chain that I can either run towards cart or a small bin on digger. I basically have to have a cart alongside of me at all times in 37 ton beets. I can’t go very far putting them in my bin. Just long enough to quick change a full cart for a empty one.
Bjrogg
PS it gets to be exhausting
-
My greens are looking really good, I have opened the patch to picking but none of the folk that said they would come over to pick have.
I took the electric fence down on my deer plot, last year there were deer in it within in a few hours after the fence came down, this year after a week there have been no deer in it feeding at all, not the first picture on my trail cam. They legalized hunting over feeders where I live and I suspect they are in a lot of backyards around here and drawing the deer off.
I blow the leaves off the plot every few days as it sits in the woods.
-
The reason I asked is we bought our 25acs in 1988 with sugar money but cane sugar, not beats. We sold our Dixie Chrystal Sugar stock(Savannah Foods and Industries, I inherited) and bought our 25acs. A good friend was also a sugar buyer for SF and I. And growing up in Savannah, S F and I was a big deal. I didn't realize until later the animosity between cane and beet sugar. (A)
BJ, I have to give you and all farmers lots of credit for all your hard work you do with such little returns. Definitely the backbone of our country.
We have only had spotty frost around here so far this year. None at my place. There have been a few years where we had frost in Sept, usually by now we've had a heavy frost and hard freeze. To me this is our most obvious transition between seasons and my favorite. I always look forward to the first frost.
-
We’re just friendly competition Pat. I hold no animosity towards them. It’s not their fault they can’t grow sugar beets.lol
Thanks for the kind words about farmers. I can almost hear the filfes playing like when Oliver Windel Douglas would give his American Farmer speech on “Green Acres”.
Really I do appreciate the kind words. There are a lot of hard working people out there though. I feel so blessed to be doing what I am. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even a couple hours of sleep.
Bjrogg
-
That's pretty cool BJ.
-
Looks like I'm growing my garden this time for the new people. We did the FHA Inspection last week and just had the appraiser here today. I hope that was the last hoop to jump through. Hopefully heading to SC real soon.
-
Looks like I'm growing my garden this time for the new people. We did the FHA Inspection last week and just had the appraiser here today. I hope that was the last hoop to jump through. Hopefully heading to SC real soon.
Same here. Got the appraisal done today, which is the last possible monkey wrench (as far as I know) that could get thrown in the works. We close on both our old and new place November 13th, and I really want to just get on with it. Good luck, Eddie!
-
Pulled the plug. Last week hitting -20C -4F. Was a little rough on the tomatoes and peppers. A little surprise cold snap.
Bjrogg They grow sugar beets around here also, walked many miles around the fields hunting pheasants back in the day.
Thanks Leroy
-
Thank you, And good luck to you, also. I still have to get a place to stay till we get set up.
-
Picked about 10lbs of tomatoes last evening. Winter squash needs pickin. Let some broccoli go to seed and that needs pickin and drying out.
HH~
-
BJ, I seen one of those grain carts that lift for the first time a couple weeks ago. I was amazed; and I've been in a farming family for 40 years lol. Do you haul your beets to Croswell or Sebewaing? Good luck with your harvest.
-
Picked winter squash and broccoli today. My wife made several Qts of green salsa verde.
Picked last bell peppers and Cayennes as well. Just have greens in now collards and kale.
Good season. The wuhan garden did very very well.
Its a wrap fer 2020.
Hedge
-
Picked about 10lbs of tomatoes last evening. Winter squash needs pickin. Let some broccoli go to seed and that needs pickin and drying out.
HH~
We got 2" of snow a few ago, I'm rather jealous.
-
We got 2" of snow a few ago, I'm rather jealous.
Yeah, same here. We had our first snow storm and sub-zero patch back in mid-September. These southern guys live in a different world. ha ha
-
Pulled the plug. Last week hitting -20C -4F. Was a little rough on the tomatoes and peppers. A little surprise cold snap.
Bjrogg They grow sugar beets around here also, walked many miles around the fields hunting pheasants back in the day.
Thanks Leroy
Yes the pheasant really like the sugar beet fields. Our pheasant seem to very slowly be coming back. The beet fields are a good place to find them.
Bjrogg
-
BJ, I seen one of those grain carts that lift for the first time a couple weeks ago. I was amazed; and I've been in a farming family for 40 years lol. Do you haul your beets to Croswell or Sebewaing? Good luck with your harvest.
Yup Pau it’s pretty amazing some of the equipment they have come up with now. Ours is actually pretty low tech compared to the new stuff. I like our stuff though. I like our carts. We use them for wheat, corn, beans, beets and even silage when we use to chop it. They are pretty versatile.
Most of the new systems are designed to pile beets on the ends of fields by the road ditch. Then a machine comes in that picks up the piles and further cleans the dirt and loads them onto big trucks on the road. The trucks don’t have to go off the road which can be a big advantage. The diggers are self propelled and very expensive. It is a nice system, but very expensive and not at all versatile. The only thing all of that equipment can be used for is sugar beet.
Paul we haul our beets to “permanent storage piles” at Ruth or Verona. They are stored there until they go to one of our 4 factories. Most go to Croswell if possible to save on freight, but it depends on how the factories are keeping up.
We are still plugging away. Everything is getting tired and worn out. We have been doing a considerable amount of fixing to get across the finish line. Running this equipment in the dirt and rocks is very hard on it. The many, many tons of beets are also a big wear on the trucks. As I say though. Of all the many bills we have. The trucking one is the one I don’t mind so much. It’s not good if you don’t have something to truck.
Bjrogg
-
The deer have finally started feeding on my little food plot, 3 does were in it yesterday evening.
I got a new hip last Wednesday so I won't be harassing the deer for another month or so, possibly longer. I am walking without a walker but sore as the dickens.
-
The deer have finally started feeding on my little food plot, 3 does were in it yesterday evening.
I got a new hip last Wednesday so I won't be harassing the deer for another month or so, possibly longer. I am walking without a walker but sore as the dickens.
Sometimes it takes awhile for one of them to figure out they don’t get a electric shock . I remember a pen of heifers we had. It didn’t have a gate. Just a wire you could take down to let them out. Sometimes you just couldn’t make them cross where the wire would have been when you took it down. We literally had to load some on a trailer to get them out of the pen.
Bjrogg
-
Here’s the ones I’m looking for. The last four rows. Need two more trucks to empty the carts and get last pass.
Man that’s a good sight.
Bjrogg
-
Great! Now, up jumps the new cycle! I got my growing pots cleaned out and the stalks into the compost bin, had to do some serious tree trimming to rescue the composter!
Hawkdancer
-
Those new machines look awsome. Another thing that amazed me first time I seen one. My some farm for my mother-in-law. They hope to finish soybeans this weekend.
-
You been busy BJ.
Gave pappy a bag bell peppers and bag of cayennes for doing brats later in winter. Need to get some charcoal to spead in all my beds for next years. Keep that club root outta there.
HH~
-
About charcoal, I saw a documentary about the once cultivated areas around the Amazon. This ground is notoriously poor but sustained a huge population. In all the formerly cultivated areas they found ground charcoal in the soil. It is know that charcoal keeps nutrients from leaching out of the soil, these so called primitive folk figured this out.
-
Pulled the plug. Last week hitting -20C -4F. Was a little rough on the tomatoes and peppers. A little surprise cold snap.
Bjrogg They grow sugar beets around here also, walked many miles around the fields hunting pheasants back in the day.
Thanks Leroy
Yes the pheasant really like the sugar beet fields. Our pheasant seem to very slowly be coming back. The beet fields are a good place to find them.
Bjrogg
beet fields... i got that down!!! going pheasant hunting tomorrow! theres so many here in nebraska! glad the pheasants are coming back on your fields if there not destroying anything. biodiversity is pretty important for land and its health!!
-
Finished the tillage and spreading seed for cover crops. Not sure if it will show up, but took a picture of the rye cover crop greening up. This is a cover that will grow at 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above. It will grow under the snow. It is good at scavenging nutrients and saving them from erosion and leaching. It’s roots and vegetation provide organic matter and the animals love it to. We will kill it off about a week before we plant beans next June. It will be a foot or two tall by then.
In our sugar beets we will plant directly into it and kill it off about a month after we plant the beets. It will protect them from the wind.
I am big on cover crops and modern farming practices make them dry practical to use.
Bjrogg
-
I've never really tried cover crops because our season is so short here, but I like the idea. How do you kill them off without killing the beets?
-
I've never really tried cover crops because our season is so short here, but I like the idea. How do you kill them off without killing the beets?
That is the main reason modern farming and science has made it practical. We have tried to use these cover crop in the past. They were difficult to manage. Modern farming has taken a lot of that out. They still take a lot of management but now we have more tools in our box.
-
I finally got some pickers in my greens patch, so many of my friends love greens but just won't come pick them.
I got a new hip a month ago and just tried greens picking this week, I could do it. I have an 87 year old friend who is a shut in for the most part. I picked a huge bag of greens to take to him, he loves them so much he will eat them three meals a day and started washing and cooking them as soon as I delivered the bag to him.
-
What are "greens"? I thought it was a generic term for any leafy veg but now I'm doubting that.
-
What are "greens"? I thought it was a generic term for any leafy veg but now I'm doubting that.
Dc, if you was eating greens at my house growing up, it could have been collard, mustard, spinach, poke, turnip, or any combination of those, so it was a pretty generic term for us.
-
I have kale (siberian and red russian), Georgia collards, purple top turnip greens and spinach planted in separate patches, some like them mixed. some like them individually, kale is the new trendy health food and very popular.
Of course like DC mentioned there is poke salat, a wild toxic weed that sprouts up in the spring along back roads and paths. It has to be boiled several time and the liquid poured off to be safe to eat. It grows in abundance along the exercise path I use so I stockpile some every spring.
Most cook it down and season it in a pan then break an egg in the mix, tastes like cooked spinach.
I get creative with it; here is some cooked in chicken stock with onions, garlic and wild chanterelle mushrooms.
-
Pokeweed at the spring picking stage and mature and very toxic, past the eating stage.
-
Is pokeweed related to baneberry? The colors are different but the shape looks the same. Baneberry is beautiful but you don't want to eat that stuff. I guess as a rule it's good not to eat anything with "bane" in the name. ;D
-
What are "greens"? I thought it was a generic term for any leafy veg but now I'm doubting that.
Dc, if you was eating greens at my house growing up, it could have been collard, mustard, spinach, poke, turnip, or any combination of those, so it was a pretty generic term for us.
Thanks Morgan, I guess I was pretty close.
-
Nope; baneberry is entirely different than poke.
www.britannica.com/plant/baneberry
Baneberry, (genus Actaea), also called cohosh or necklaceweed, any of about eight species of perennial herbaceous plants in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae); they are all native to north temperate zone woodlands.
-
Think purple kale is my go to this year. Better than collards I think. Snowing out now and my broccoli still has side heads and will for a month Im thinking.
Shawn~
-
Well, we're all moved into our place in town. We won't have nearly as much room to garden, but it should be several degrees warmer than our old place, which should translate to about a month more of growing season. Less wind too! So, maybe we'll actually be able to grow some tomatoes and peppers next summer.
-
I agree, the red Russian kale I grew this year is something else.
Yesterday I had red Russian kale sautéed in butter with onions, garlic and dried chanterelle mushrooms.
I didn't notice the picture was out of focus until I already had is saved and resized.
-
My only objection to kale is that it tastes like kale. ;D I've tried to like the stuff, but I'd have to be pretty hungry to go out of my way for it. I'm glad other people enjoy it, though--less for me.
T
-
Not crazy about Kale either, I much prefer Lambs Quarter
-
I love steamed kale with hot pepper vinegar on it. The vinegar brings out the sweetness of the kale. -C-
-
We call it pepper sauce in the south, I can it every year with garlic and onions just for greens.
-
Not crazy about Kale either, I much prefer Lambs Quarter
I’ve never tried kale. I did try lambs quarters though. After a lifetime of trying to eradicate them found out they are pretty good eating. And certainly easy to grow. I just pick the wild ones.
Bjrogg
-
Love most greens. Kale is up there! Some grease, white wing, pepper flakes, seseme seeds, lots garlic done in a deep sided fry skillet with a top.
Or in bamboo steamer then in skillet.
In winter i like French endive dug out garden, plant in cold sand box in cold cellar and cover completely. Stays blanched like throwing a board over it. Fresh greens all winter. Like it with some home red dressing in salat bowl. No bitterness.
HH~
-
My granddaughter makes a kale salad with pine nuts, cranberries, boiled egg and a vinaigrette dressing that is out of this world and I never thought I would like kale in a salad.
-
We found a kale slaw in the grocery store and loved it but it was expensive so I started making my own with almost any greens, with shredded carrots, chopped onions, broccoli, cauliflower, boch choy(sp), dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, shredded apple and poppy seed dressing. This is some good stuff and even better the next day after it has marinated over night. -C-
-
That almost makes me want to try it - but without the onions!
Hawkdancer
-
Onions are optional. ;)
-
I had heard about a radish people planted for deer to eat, it is a daikon radish but known around here as a deer radish. Deer will eat the greens first then pull up the radish and eat it as well.
I had to plant a few rows of these just to see what they looked like. To say they did well in my garden is an understatement. They taste like any other radish, perhaps a little milder. I was surprised at how big they grew.
I pulled this one today, I have so many I am going to pickle some sliced with onions and garlic to see how they taste on sandwiches or in a salad.
-
Wow, Eric, you could torpedo a destroyer with that thing!